The 1995 Chevy truck's drum brakes prevent the rear wheels from rolling. The rear brake shoe assembly compresses to the inside surface of the brake drums. Once the brake shoes are fully compressed to the brake drums, the wheels can no longer turn. The rear brakes are made up of the brake shoes, brake cylinder and the brake springs. Replace the brake shoes before the shoes' thickness reaches less than 1/8-inch.
Pull the 1995 Chevy truck onto a level surface and shut the engine off.
Position the wheel chocks in front of and behind the front wheels.
Loosen each of the lug nuts from the rear wheels about one-quarter of a turn with a tire tool.
Jack the rear of the truck up high enough for the jack stands. Place the jack stands under the proper rear jacking points. Lower the truck safely on top of the stands and leave the jack upright.
Finish removing all of the lug nuts from both wheels. Pull the wheels off the hubs and place them flat down near where you are working.
Move to the rear driver-side wheel hub assembly and remove the brake drum by pulling out on the drum with your hand. If the drum is stuck, tap the rear of the drum with the handheld sledge hammer while turning the wheel hub until the drum is loose enough to remove. Pull the drum off and place it on the surface.
Locate the top two brake shoe return springs on the top of the brake shoes. Remove the return springs with a spring removal tool.
Locate the head of each spring retaining clip that is located on each brake shoe. The retaining clips are about halfway down each brake shoe. Use the spring retaining clip removal tool to remove the clip, retainer and the spring. Turn the tool counterclockwise to retract the clips from each shoe. Pull the clip and the retainer out through clip retainer hole and remove the spring by pulling it out from the inside of each brake shoe.
Spread each brake shoe and pull them both straight off the wheel hub. Place the brake shoes on the ground. Install all of the new brake shoe accessories onto the new brake shoes.
Position the new brake shoes onto the wheel hub and reattach the top two brake shoe return springs. Also, reattach the retainer springs to the retainers inside of each brake shoe.
Slide the drum back over the new brake shoes. Slide the wheel onto the wheel hub and screw the lug nuts on to the lugs. Tighten the lug nuts down until the wheel hub begins to turn. Repeat the repair on the other side of the truck.
Jack the rear of the 1995 Chevy truck back up and remove the jack stands. Lower the truck to the ground and remove the jack. Finish tightening the lug nuts down tight with the tire tool.
